Sponsor Wire

African Diaspora For Change
(Washington, DC)

The African Diaspora Inaugural Ball: Doing Good While Celebrating Change

5 January 2009

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SPONSOR WIRE

Washington, D.C. — On Sunday, January 18th 2009, the brand new Harman Center for the Arts in downtown Washington, DC will be filled with VIP's and celebrities from all walks of life, exquisite food, and live entertainment by some of the African Diaspora's brightest stars including: Grammy-nominated artists, Les Nubians; a special guest appearance by Grammy Award-winning artist, Angelique Kidjo; Belo, Haitian singer-songwriter, who captured the Radio France International 2006 award ; an all women's Brazilian drumming group; an energetic East African Dance troupe, and a live South African band. The event is the African Diaspora Inaugural Ball.

The theme: "I AM THE CHANGE: Educating, Empowering and Engaging the Next Generation of Leaders."

The host: African Diaspora for Change.

Formed during the height of the Obama campaign to raise awareness about President-Elect Barack Obama within African Diaspora communities, the group formerly known as African Diaspora for Obama has changed its name to African Diaspora for Change (ADC). From its inception, ADC has used the new methods of viral outreach via Facebook, Ning and e-mail to grow the grassroots group into an organization of more than 3000 participants. The group's success is largely attributable to the tremendous efforts of many of its young leaders, most of whom are African immigrants themselves or were raised by immigrant families. During the campaign, members knocked on an estimated 13,000 doors, hosted a "Get Out the Vote" party, held phone banking sessions, and drove voters to the polls on Election Day in battleground states like Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota.

Now an apolitical organization, ADC continues to affect change in the Diaspora by creating an alliance of African Diaspora voices to represent the common concerns and needs as a constituency in the United States. The group is moving with vigor and continues to garner support from political leaders, organizations and corporations who are listening to their ideas and how they want to affect global change. The members of ADC, in partnership with Africa Aspire, stand ready to make change happen in the United States and Africa.

ADC has formed partnerships to support global change with the Batonga Foundation, an organization founded by Angelique Kidjo which gives girls a secondary and higher education so they can take the lead in changing Africa; and First Book, a nonprofit which distributes new books to children in low-income communities throughout the United States and Canada. First Book will partner with ADC to donate and distribute 44,000 books (in honor of the 44th President of the United States) to support literacy in Africa and America.

To raise financial resources for the two organizations, the group is enlisting sponsors for the African Diaspora Inaugural Ball, which celebrates the victory of President-Elect Barack Obama, while hilighting the importance of investing in the education and empowerment of America's and Africa's next generation of leaders—a key message of the Obama administration.

Honorary Hosts of the event include: Dr. Witney Schneidman, Co-Chair, Africa Experts Group, Obama-Biden Campaign for the President; Ambassador Amina Salum Ali of the African Union Mission to the United States; John Prendergast, Co-Chair of the Enough Project and World Renowned Humanitarian; and Camilla Barungi, Ugandan supermodel and entrepreneur featured on Project Runway, among others. Tickets for the event can be purchased by visiting www.AD4change.org .

For additional information please contact Adriane Alfred at 202.246.5749 or adriane@AD4change.org.

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